Remembrance Day

Being that it is November 11, and almost the 11th hour as they would have known it in 1918, I should take the time to pay my respects to all the brave Canadian men and women that have given so much through the world wars, Korea, the peacekeeping missions in Cyprus the Balkans and elsewhere, and now finally in the tough fight in Afghanistan so that home in Canada we could live safe and secure knowing that there were others out facing the dangers of the world far from our homes. We owe so much to all of them and we must never forget what they did and we must do everything in our power, even if that means more fighting, to prevent the kind of destruction and death that the world knew in the 20th century. Which is why I would appeal to all Canadians to keep supporting the troops and wearing red on Fridays, because afterall, they can talk about the mission all they want in parliament, it's just going to keep coming back to the fact that it is not an unjust mission and that Canadians should be proud to be able to do something so noble for the world, but we must never question the soldiers or use them as a scapegoat for political means, they're performing professionally every day in one of the most dangerous places on earth the jobs that the critics at home would never have the courage to do, and they're doing it without question, because Canada asked them to, and we would never ask them to do anything dangerous unless it would serve the purpose of promoting peace and security in Canada and around the world. At 11 I will be observing the two minutes of silence and thinking hard about the images of caskets draped in the Maple Leaf being loaded onto airplanes by crying soldiers marching to the cadence of the piper playing the lament which I have seen time and again since I arrived here, in another safe nation, knowing that it is because of their sacrifices and the sacrifices of the thousands before them that I am able live the blessed life that I am. Thank you all. Lest we forget.